Australia Post is to put a new Australian-made electric delivery vehicle through its paces in Melbourne to judge its suitability for postal deliveries.
The three-wheeled vehicle, Stealth OzPOD, will service residents in the suburb of Lilydale over a five-week period, as Australia Post tests its features over different terrains.
The aim is for the new vehicle to complement existing electric vehicles in operational use.
General Manager of Network Optimisation at Australia Post, Mitch Buxton said Lilydale was a perfect area to trial the new vehicle, with locals increasingly embracing online shopping and more small parcels being delivered than ever before.
“We know that residents in Lilydale love online shopping,” Mr Buxton said.
“In fact, the yearly growth rate in Lilydale is higher than the national average at close to 21 per cent.”
He said the area saw almost 79 per cent of households purchasing online in 2018, well above the national average of 73 per cent.
The Stealth OzPOD had been developed over the past two-and-a-half years, and was designed to cater for Australian conditions, with added safety and stability, as well as measures to manage wet weather, gradients and challenging surfaces.
“As our business continues to transform, we are equipping our posties to deliver more small parcels,” Mr Buxton said.
“In February we announced an order of 1,000 Swiss-built three-wheeled electric delivery vehicles, so this trial is another example of how we are looking at ways to keep our posties delivering for Australians and supporting local manufacturing businesses.”
He said the Stealth OzPod had an increased carrying capacity of up to 720 litres and could travel up to 50 km/h.
Australia Post would use the trial to review the vehicle’s performance and identify where it could be introduced.
